mushy mints, can you help?

Hi!

I have just received my order from Richters and my herbs arrived with mushy brown slimy leaves. Is there anything I can do to save them? Is it a good idea to cut all the stems off?

Thank you for any help.
anna

Spider, I'd try cutting them back some but not all the way off, and remove the leaves. Mints are surprisingly hardy. I'm surprised they arrived that way -- I've ordered from Richter's and I'm about as far from them as you are, and the plants were fine, within reason. It was cooler, though. But a little TLC or some benign neglect might let them come through. I'd keep them near the kitchen window (or your equivalent) rather than putting them outside. Did you get anything besides mints? Would you like me to send you some cuttings? I don't have a huge variety but I'll share what I do have.

Ann

Awww, shoot! Do let them know right away so they can make things right if the plants don't recover.

Mints can take a lot of foliage damage and come back from the littlest piece of healthy rhizome/root. Cut away everything that looks brown or feels slimy, and if that leaves you with long, naked stems, then cut them back by half. Pot them up so they'll have good drainage, and put them in a protected spot with some shade and regular watering... I've had mints recover more quickly outside than on a sunny windowsill, but I think regular watering is the key, plus making sure they aren't right in the hot blazing sun.

Good luck!

Thank you both of you for the tips. i will cut them down a bit and see what happens.

Brigililly, you are very kind to offer to share your mints with me. I hope htey recover, if not, I will ask you for some of your cuttings. Thank you very much!

Just let me know, when and if. And critter is right -- they do better outside, but with the heat we've been having down here (how is it in GA?) I wouldn't want to burn them. I have almost everything under the patio roof right now, and beginning to minimize the daily wilting. Just don't let them stay in direct, outside sun.

Hi Brigidlily, it is quite hot here. The temperature has benn getting to middle 90's.

Most of my herbs are under burlap shade cloths in the patio. I will ekkp these mints in the shade for today and tomorrow then mover them with the others.

Keep us updated. The weather's been about the same here -- mid to high 90s, but it's not supposed to get over 87 or so for the next few days. Feels like Christmas. :}

LOL!!!

My mints are really suffering in this heat even in the shade and with regular watering. It's just too hot for everybody! :-) LOL
~Elaine~

It took me a long time to figure it out--12 years--(I'm in the slow learners group--lol) but it makes a difference the container you use down here.

Plastic and glazed pottery for high water consumers and clay pots for those that want fast drainage--even in the shade. My mints, which live in the shade until October, in the first group. Oh yeah, and one of those $4.95 water checkers you stick in the dirt from WallyWorld has helped tremendously.
:) Debbie

Thank you for the tip Debbie!

My potted mints are in all day sun, but they're in plastic pots with a generous dose of moisture crystals, and I think it also helps that the pots are reasonably big (10-12 inch).

I have mine in plastic as well. I notice that they dry very quickly and have to be watered twice a day.

Transplant to bigger pots like Critter says. None of mine are in smaller than about a gallon to 2 gallon and more short and wide than tall in shape. I also put just the barest amount of mulch--just enough to cover the dirt (half inch max). This keeps the dirt from flying out over the pot when watering and probably cuts the watering down a bit.

I got some real inexpensive plastic ones from WallyWorld. Mainly beacause I was getting some real big ones at the same time.
Debbie

Thanks, these are all great tips. This is just the sort of info I look for on DG. :-)
~Elaine~

Hey, Spider -- any new growth yet on those mints?

I think they are slowly recovering. most of the leavesare gone but new growth is appearing.

By the way, I found the Baggio book. It is wonderful!

Cool! Tom DeBaggio has been just a huge inspiriation & encouragement to me when I started gardening here, both in person and through his writing.

I'm glad your mints are doing well -- new growth is an excellent sign!

Critter, is he OK? One of his books is about living with Alzeimer disease(sp?). I hope he is well and writing more books for us.

His Alzheimer's is fairly advanced, but he still putters around the greenhouse, helping customers and messing with his beloved plants. Last year, we thought he was looking frail and confused, but when we saw him this spring we thought he was doing much better! He seemed much stronger physically and was having a little less trouble finding the words he wanted, and he just seemed much more "connected" again. He even gave me some advice on overwintering bay trees and recommended a couple of favorite varieties of sage and rosemary (which I told him I already had, because I knew they were his favorites, LOL). His son has taken over the business and seems to have a similar passion for it, which is fun. I'm glad he made the time to set so much of his knowledge and experience down in his books!

Where can you get this book? What is the name of it? I just looked up his name at the web cite for talking books and nothing was listed, but I could scan it. :-) Can I get it at the book store?

Hi Elaine!

It is called the Big Book of Herbs by De Baggio.

It is out of print anc you cal only get it through amazon or his nursery (but he does no do mail order, you have to go there).

I found it through amazon and it has been hard work. Some were listed at $70.

I found someone who was selling his for the right price $30. The book is as good as new. I think it waas never even open.

hope you find one
Anna

Critter, it is so sad to see someone so passioned about something so ill. I would love to have met him. I can see through his books that he is a lovely, very knowledgeable peep.

Elaine, he has another book called Growing Herbs from Seed, Cuttings and Roots. It is a master on propagation although it only has around 100 soemthing pages.

Here is Tom's "little book" in GB, http://davesgarden.com/gbw/c/1617/

And here is the Amazon description of "the big book," which Tom coauthored with Arthur Tucker. Hopefully it will be back in print soon, but I would say it is probably too big to scan in its entirety... Any time you want to know what he has to say about a particular herb, however, Elaine please Dmail me & I'll scan that page for you. I was a little puzzled by the Amazon reviewer who said this book "doesn't have a ton of herbs," as it has every kind of herb I've ever heard of any many that I hadn't previously had a clue about.

Spider, yes, it's certainly sad.... but it's also good to see him doing as well as he is, seemingly quite happy and content as he putters among his beloved plants.

Yes, Elaine. I do not have a scanner but i can photocopy it and send to you.

Critter, it is good to know that he is happy though!

Thanks Critter and Spider. Gosh, he must be a remarkable man. I'm going to check out that link. :-)